Regina Margherita-class battleship
 Regina Margherita on speed trials in July 1904
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Regina Margherita |
| Operators |  Regia Marina |
| Preceded by | Ammiraglio di Saint Bon class |
| Succeeded by | Regina Elena class |
| Built | 1898–1905 |
| In commission | 1904–1916 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Lost | 2 |
| General characteristics (Regina Margherita) | |
| Type | pre-dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 138.65 m (454 ft 11 in) |
| Beam | 23.84 m (78 ft 3 in) |
| Draft | 8.81 to 9 m (28 ft 11 in to 29 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range | 10,000 nmi (18,520 km; 11,508 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 812–900 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
The Regina Margherita class was a
Both ships saw extensive service with the Italian fleet for the first decade of their careers. They saw action in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912, where they participated in the seizure of Cyrenaica in North Africa and operations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. They were reduced to training ships by World War I, and both ships were lost with heavy death tolls during the conflict. Benedetto Brin exploded in Brindisi in September 1915, and Regina Margherita struck a mine and sank in December 1916.
Design
After the negative experience with the preceding Ammiraglio di Saint Bon class, which were too weak to engage foreign battleships, and too slow to catch cruisers, the Italian navy wanted a new battleship that returned to a larger, more effective size. In particular, they wanted to be able to challenge the new Habsburg-class battleships being built in neighboring Austria-Hungary. They returned to the 12-inch (305 mm) gun that was standard in most other navies of the day, but sacrificed armor protection to achieve high speed.[1] As such, the ships represented a hybrid type that merged the firepower of the slow battleships and the speed of a cruiser. Benedetto Brin initially wanted to arm the ships with only two of the 12-inch guns and twelve 8 in (203 mm) guns, but after his death, Admiral Ruggero Alfredo Micheli altered the design to double the number of 12-inch guns, at the expense of eight of the medium-caliber pieces.[2]
General characteristics and machinery
The Regina Margherita-class ships were 130 meters (430 ft)
The vessels had a fairly large
The ships' propulsion system consisted of two
Armament and armor
The ships were armed with a
The ships of the Regina Margherita class were protected with Harvey steel manufactured in Terni. The main belt was 6 in (152 mm) thick, and the deck was 3.1 in (79 mm) thick. The conning tower and the casemate guns were also protected by 6 in of armor plating. The main battery guns had stronger armor protection, at 8 in (203 mm) thick.[2] Coal was used extensively in the protection scheme, including a layer intended to protect the ships' internals from underwater damage.[3]
Ships of the class
| Name | Builder[2] | Laid down[2]
|
Launched[2] | Completed[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regina Margherita | Arsenale di La Spezia
|
20 November 1898 | 30 May 1901 | 14 April 1904 |
| Benedetto Brin | Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia | 30 January 1899 | 7 November 1901 | 1 September 1905 |
Service history
Both Regina Margherita and Benedetto Brin served in the active duty squadron for the first few years of their careers, and participated in the peacetime routine of fleet training.[4] Regina Margherita frequently served as the fleet flagship before the completion of the new Regina Elena-class battleships.[5] On 29 September 1911, Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire, starting the Italo-Turkish War. The two ships saw action during the war in the 3rd Division in the 2nd Squadron. Benedetto Brin took part in the attack on Tripoli in October 1911, and both were involved in the campaign to seize Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.[6]
Italy initially remained neutral during World War I, but by 1915, had been convinced by the Triple Entente to enter the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Both the Italians and Austro-Hungarians adopted a cautious fleet policy in the confined waters of the Adriatic Sea, and so the two Regina Margherita-class battleships did not see action.[7] Benedetto Brin served as a training ship based in Brindisi until she was destroyed in an internal explosion in the harbor on 27 September 1915 with heavy loss of life;[2] 454 men of the ship's crew died in the explosion.[8] Regina Margherita, also serving as a training ship, served for somewhat longer, until she struck a mine laid by the German submarine SM UC-14 on the night of 11–12 December 1916.[2] Some 675 men were killed in the sinking.[9]
Notes
References
- Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War: September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute. OCLC 1408563.
- Brassey, Thomas A. (1908). "Comparative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 48–57.
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1979). "Italy". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Annapolis: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 334–359. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-352-7.
- Hocking, Charles (1990). Dictionary of Disasters at Sea During The Age of Steam. London: The London Stamp Exchange. ISBN 978-0-948130-68-7.
- Hore, Peter (2006). The Ironclads. London: Southwater Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84476-299-6.
- Leyland, John (1908). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Italian Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 76–81.
- Phelps, Harry (July 1901). "Notes on Ships and Torpedo-boats". Notes on Naval Progress. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Further reading
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0105-3.
External links
- Regina Margherita (1901) Marina Militare website
